Business Aviation

Business aviation flight activity turned in its best year since 2008 last year, according to ARGUS TraqPak data. Flight activity last year increased 2% overall from 2013, it said. The largest single year-over-year increase was recorded by small business jets flown by fractional companies. Activity increased 23.6% last year in that category over 2013, ARGUS said. Activity in large cabin jets flown under Part 135 had the second largest gain at 9.4%. Turboprop activity by fractional companies experienced the biggest drop, with flights last year down 29.8%.

Piper Aircraft, based in Vero Beach, Florida, has introduced the single-engine Meridian M500 with upgraded avionics and other improvements. The aircraft features the Garmin G1000 avionics with a dual 10-in. PFD, a 12-in. MFD and a GFC700 autopilot with an enhanced flight control system. The $2.26 million aircraft includes Electronic Stability Protection that helps prevent stalls, spins, steep spirals and loss-of-control conditions and discourages aircraft operation outside the flight envelope.

Cessna Aircraft rolled out its first production Citation Latitude midsize business jet at its Wichita production facility on Jan. 29. The unveiling comes three years after the all-new midsize $16.25 million business jet was introduced.

Bipartisan legislation called the Pilot’s Bill of Rights II that would expand the third-class medical exemption and protections for pilots and airmen was introduced in Congress Feb. 25. The civil helicopter industry is facing a "volatile, challenging market" in 2015, an analyst says. NetJets Aviation has signed a five-year agreement with the FAA to implement NextGen projects.

In the wake of recent North Sea crashes, helicopter operators, manufacturers and regulators work together to advance safety programs.

New and established helicopter makers are planning to roll out several new models in 2015, including the long-awaited Airbus Helicopters X4.

AgustaWestland’s long-delayed AW609 tiltrotor is finally making progress toward first flight.

As current heavy models become aged, helicopter manufacturers turn to larger types for new product lines.

The Piston Aviation Fuel Initiative, a joint industry-government partnership, could result in a technically feasible and economically viable unleaded avgas.

Seeking to extend its Pro Line Fusion avionics line into the helicopter market, Rockwell Collins is broadening the system’s capabilities for a wide range of missions

If pilots and flight departments don’t study accident, incident and air safety history, drilling down into the root causes of these events, they’re then destined to repeat the same errors.

Taking responsibility for the whereabouts of their aircraft will be a new experience for many of the world’s airlines, and the jury’s out on whether it will be affordable

Growth of membership-based private air travel company Wheels Up is on schedule, according to CEO Kenny Dichter. Plus, SRC Aviation is the first compnay to receive International Standard for Business Aircraft Handling (IS-BAH) certification.

The FAA may not plan to certify the airworthiness of small UAS, but manufacturers need to pay attention to crashworthiness.

Aviation Week editors talk about what’s ailing Bombardier in commercial and business aviation and its move to bring in aerospace veteran Alain Bellemare to fix things.

Gulfstream Aerospace has announced that the Gulfstream G650ER has once again demonstrated its ability to go the distance by completing the farthest flight in its history.

Annual aircraft shipment counts suggest the general aviation market is recovering, but challenges remain.

The Southern U.S., with many favorable attributes, continues to attract business aviation manufacturers from Europe and Japan.

Los Angeles International Airport was the airport searched the most in January 2015 for charter arrivals, according to an analysis of Air Charter Guide Worldwide Trip Builder data. Four airports tied with the same number of searches as charter departures.

More than six years in the making, the FAA’s proposed rules for small unmanned aircraft cannot be finalized fast enough for those on either side of the argument over UAS in civil airspace.

The NextGen GA Fund has launched a program to accelerate the installation of ADS-B Out avionics on general aviation aircraft by offering aircraft owners special pricing. Plus, FlightSafety International said it is designing and building its fourth full-flight simulator for the Gulfstream G650.

If you fly circling approaches in the U.S. on a regular basis and train in a simulator, then you know that what you learn in the box has very little to do with what you need to do in the airplane. We all know the “Memphis Localizer Runway 27, Circle to Runway 18R” is not likely to happen in real life.

Falling oil prices could slow growth and rein in aircraft acquisition plans for offshore helicopter services.

Anyone wanting to fly a small unmanned aircraft commercially in U.S. airspace will have to obtain an special operator certificate and pass a test on the “rules of the air”, but the aircraft themselves will not require airworthiness approval.

The moves are intended to reassure investors who are increasingly concerned Bombardier will run out of cash as it funds development of the delayed CSeries narrowbody aircraft.